WTB: Lenovo M75N AMD Ryzen 5 Mini PC (USA)

[ZGoode]

I know it's not test equipment, but I've been looking to buy one of these nano PC's from Lenovo for use in a mobile lab setup I have.  The formfactor/size pretty much fits my needs exactly.

I tried to buy two via eBay, one "certified ebay refurbished" and the other listed as just "used" but both were computrace/intune locked.  I'm assuming these PC's were commonly used in POS terminals since they were locked to Sephora and Lululemon corporate accounts.  Rather than attempt a 3rd go on a likely locked system on Ebay I was hoping someone here might have a unit they don't use anymore.  I'm specifically looking for the Ryzen 5 variant and NOT the IOT fanless version.

If anyone is aware of systems with a similar footprint, especially the overall thickness let me know and I'll look at those, but so far this is one of the few options I've seen capable of running windows that isn't Celeron/Pentium/Athlon based

[coromonadalix]

i was a matter of  erasing the bios and reprogram it thru some ch341 adapter ...


you have some new ones on ebay  without computrace locks ...

[ZGoode]

Is it really that easy to remove computrace?  I didn't see any mention of it in the bios, but when I installed a new copy of Windows 10 it asked my for an organization email with no way to bypass it (I didn't want the hassle of messing with windows registry files).  The two units I bought had no mention of computrace locking on them and both sellers acted surprised when I brought it up to them.  There is one seller on eBay I see that is listing systems specifically mentioning they are locked and priced at nearly half of these other units.  If it is truly that easy to get rid of it, I might take a chance on one of those units, but I thought in the newer systems it was a lot harder to remove.

[coromonadalix]

not that easy in some cases, lots of reading to do, it can be managed  by blocking or deleting some services and add blocks in the host file  ..

 some reading here
https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/53698/detecting-and-removing-absolute-persistence-technology

some did say  new eeprom  dumps and or getting an eeprom  without the computrace option


you can call computrace and try to get it removed  by telling them   you bought it on ebay ...   they will try to contact the original owners ...


return your units if you have time to do so,    and try to find unlocked ones if it is possible, less  hassle

because once you connect thoses pc on the web   "they" will know a lot of things, like your ip etc ...

[ZGoode]

Looking into it more, with Windows 10/11 getting past Intune/Autopilot legally is not possible (at least not easily).  It seems like the only real way to get past it is to mess around in Windows through registry settings or whatnot and I really do not want to do that, especially if I end up having to re-image as I will have to go through that process all over again (which in addition to looking like being a PITA is also a legally grey area I don't really want to mess with).

Still looking if someone has one available.  Or possibly a PC in a similar small form factor that is not Celeron/Pentium/Athlon/Etc based.

[thm_w]

I didn't see any mention of it in the bios, but when I installed a new copy of Windows 10 it asked my for an organization email with no way to bypass it (I didn't want the hassle of messing with windows registry files).

They ebay seller said you just have to setup a local microsoft account, was that not possible?

The Beelink and other mini PCs are popular, have you looked at any of those?

[ZGoode]

I set up a local account, but as soon as I went on the internet and tried to log into microsoft stuff (onedrive, etc) it phoned home.  I don't really want to deal with grey market stuff if it can be avoided even if the companies did get rid of them officially but forget to remove them from their autopilot.

I have seen the beelink stuff, and have actually been considering one of the Asrock 4x4 systems.  What was so attractive to me with the Lenovo system wasn't just its footprint, but its overall thickness being less than an inch.

[coromonadalix]

you would need to block ports 80 and 443  and maybe block some domains,  or use linux ??  buuuuuuuut  read all of this  and on the last pages, you have the absolute links

https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=114641&sid=b981a236c3cea151629e6aef73f81bb9&start=120

if you phone them,  they maybe can or could release your lock and get rid of it

and or finally them :   apparently per machine price, they can remove the computrace ----------  https://www.allservice.ro/shopall/
https://www.allservice.ro/shopall/product/absolute-persistence-removal/


i would have loved to play with theses Ryzen pups

i have some Beelink mini's,  some are impressive for their size and prices,  we use a few at my job in well vented areas, they heat a little ...

[jnk0le]

Autopilot/intune lock can be removed by corrupting UUID below autopilot marker.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/how-to-remove-windows-auopilotintune-corporate-domain-lock-from-bios/